Scotland
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Scotland is the northern part of the United Kingdom (England being to the south, and Northern Ireland across a narrow stretch of sea to the south-west). The population is just under 5.5 million people. The country includes dozens of islands off the west coast - the Inner Hebrides are closer to the mainland, while the Outer Hebrides or "Western Isles" are somewhat further out to sea. The Orkney Islands are just off the north of the mainland. The Shetland Islands are much further north. Since the capital of the United Kingdom is London, the National Spiritual Assembly is based there. The Universal House of Justice urged the N.S.A. to purchase a more dignified building in Edinburgh to serve as a Bahá’í Centre, rather than the rather run-down terraced house which previously served as such. The Bahá’ís can now host more prestigious functions there, and the building could presumably serve as a national Haziratu'l-Quds, should political circumstances require it.
Although Scotland has existed as a clear entity for many centuries, the different regions of the kingdom historically spoke different languages. On the north of the mainland, and in the Western Isles, the Gaelic language survives in some places as an everyday language, despite the long period of expansion of English. In southern Scotland, various forms of "Lowland Scots" (Lallans) are still widely spoken. Scots can be viewed either as a dialect of English, or as a separate language, according to the criteria you are choosing. The northern Isles (Orkney, Shetland) spoke a Norse language ("Norn") until this was replaced by English, at the end of the eighteenth century. Scotland's capital city is Edinburgh, which has direct access to the east coast; but the largest city by population is Glasgow, a port city on the River Clyde, with access to the west coast. Large parts of the Scottish uplands were depopulated in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries - many Scots emigrated to the various British colonies, but especially to Canada.
The Bahá'í Faith in Scotland[edit]
The first Scottish Bahá’í was Mrs. Jane Whyte, who declared around 1907. There is a story of two ladies coming down from Scotland to hear Abdu'l-Baha speak, when He was in London. At another time, He Himself travelled up to Scotland, and gave talks in Edinburgh. Many years later, the first Local Spiritual Assembly was that of Edinburgh, elected by 1952. Thereafter, Local Assemblies were established in all Scotland's major cities. There is also now a significant Bahá’í presence on the Isle of Mull, in the Western Isles, on Orkney and on Shetland. Charles Dunning was the Knight of Bahá'u'lláh to the Orkney Islands, and Brigitte Hasselblatt was the Knight for the Shetlands. The Knight of Bahá'u'lláh for the Hebrides (the islands off the west coast) was Geraldine Graney.
Scotland now has its own regional council, known as the Bahá’í Council for Scotland, which is elected annually by the members of all the L.S.A.s.
Some of the clusters in Scotland have programmes of growth, but those away from the large cities mostly do not. Those without Programmes of Growth include Shetland, North Highland, West Highland, South-West Scotland, Borders and the Western Isles.
Well-Known Scottish Bahá'ís[edit]
- John Esslemont, designated Hand of the Cause by the Guardian, was born in Aberdeen, in north-east Scotland. His introduction to the book Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era mentions himself living near that city at the time of publication. He also ran a sanitorium on the south coast of England at around the same time.
